Divided We Stand
by Gingerrogersforever
Summary: Drake and Josh over hear private conversations and find out that a hurtful blow is coming to them soon concerning their family. My third D&J story, R&R!
1. Rain

"Divided We Stand" – Chapter One, "Rain"

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Summary: Drake and Josh over - hear private conversations and find out that a hurtful blow is coming to them soon concerning their family. My third D&J story, R&R!

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A/N: I'll make it short and sweet -- for my faithful "Party in a Box" readers and fans, here's another new story. This one is much less depressing, and _much, much _less disastrous, so it's pretty fun and easy to write. I came up with this storyline out of the blue and I thought it was clever enough to earn itself a new story, so please enjoy! I love all you guys! **Edit: I got the comments about how hard it was to read the dialogue, so I changed around the paragraphs. Hope it reads better!  
**-Morgan

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Fic Information--

Story: "Divided We Stand"

Chapter: "Rain", One

Date Begun: February Fifth, Two-Thousand and Six

Date Chapter Finished: February Seventh, Two-Thousand and Six

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Drake Parker slid down the hall in his red socks and ducked in to the empty kitchen. He had just come in from school and what he needed most was a big, preferably sugary snack. As he took another slippery step toward the cabinets beside the refrigerator, he noticed the soft trickle of spring rain on the foggy glass of the kitchen window and sighed in a carefree way, as a blithe smile slid to his lips. Unlike his highly straight – laced step brother Josh, he liked rain very much. Rain made him happy and kind of set him in a peaceful, creative mood. This was only one of the many bits of sweet oddity about the boy. Looking at Drake, you'd easily notice many of the other bits—the odd way his brown eyes shimmered and the way his eyebrows bent in a feel of playfulness; the curious way his soft brown bangs of his hair hung and swayed just above his eyes; the avant-garde clothes he wore and the quirky jesting in his smile.

Singing the chorus to one of his newly written songs in a quiet mumble, he reached up and yanked open the door to the cabinet mounted on the wall, and began to dig around inside it, searching for a treat that would hit the spot. "Aha!" he murmured, pulling out a bag of candy corn and popping a handful in his mouth. Gulping them down almost simultaneously, he closed his eyes and sighed happily, again: "How _good_ s candy?" The question was aimed at himself, but he jumped back a little bit in surprise when he received an answer. After spinning around and realizing that the sound of speech was coming from the next room and that he was still by himself.

A little half - frown twined itself in to his brows and his caramel eyes glittered in curiosity as he took a few quiet steps to the side and around the island in the middle of the kitchen, stopping at the edge of the room to lean close to the closed shutters, drawn across the window of the living room.

Everything was quiet for a minute more, but then, finally after a long pause of bleak silence, Drake listened and heard his mother speak up in a hushed tone, making him strain his keen ears to hear what she was saying so quietly.

"Walter, we can't just… just pretend this isn't going to happen. I mean, they may be teen agers, but we have to realize that they—"

"Audrey, I know—" "We'll have to tell them! I'd be pointless to pass over and keep from them, now! It's already almost done!"

The deep voice of Walter spoke: "Audrey, I _know_ already! It's just that well… they might not like it! I mean, being that way for so long and having to explain leaving would be so hard."

"It can't be simply put aside! It may seem pointless to do this, but it's been needing to happen for a long, long time. And when it happens, now… well, believe me, their going to notice a change as drastic as that!" she replied.

"Look, don't be sarcastic."

"I'm _not!"_

"Oh, yes you are."

Drake's eyes filled with confusion and he shot away from the window. What in the world? He quickly put down the candy he had been clenching and he stopped to lean up against the wall and think for a minute.

_"What could they possibly be talking about? Are we moving? No! We can't move! I can't move out of this city and leave all my friends! I'd leave them all so, so much! Trevor and Scottie, and Rebecca, Patricia, Ashley, Renee, and Caitlyn, and Lorelei, Hannah and Stephanie, Danielle, Netta, Amanda, Alyson, Denise, Cynthia and Manyana, Lily, Rosabeth and Emily, Jamie, Essy and Jo, Gina and M—wait, focus! …Could we really be moving?"_

Snapping out of his thoughts, a fearful look flashed through his eyes and he grabbed a can of Dr. Fizz, frowning with a wide eyed look of horror and pushing through the swinging door, out of the kitchen. "Mom! Mom, are we moving? We **so** can't move away from here! Please, PLEASE say we're not moving!"

"Wha—Dr—Drake! N-no! No, honey, we're not moving. Don't worry—you'll live here for a long time." His mother stuttered, seeming surprised as she jumped up from the couch.

"What… made you say a silly thing like that?" Walter asked, with the same apprehension in his voice.

"Well—" Drake began to reveal that he had been listening in, in the kitchen, but for some reason something stopped him: "Well, um… nothing really. Just… _thinking_ about it, really."

The room fell awquardly silent again and Drake began to ask a question as Walter shifted from foot to foot, uncomfortably, but he was immediately cut off by his brother running in from outside, exclaiming: "**Dude**, the ice cream truck's making it's first round of the year down the street!"

Momentarily, Drake's dim face lightened in to a childish expression and temporarily forgetting the mysterious way his parents where acting, he rushed forward: "AWESOME! I bet I can beat you there!"

"Who ever gets there last has to pay for the ice cream!" Josh laughed.

"Ha, not me!" Drake said, as he threw open the door, and Audrey gasped as he started out side: "But, Drake, it's raining out there!" Her sentence was too late for him to catch, but Josh, who was still inside, threw out his hands, exclaiming a: "Mom, who cares? It's the _ICE CREAM TRUCK!"_

Then turning toward the door, he followed his brother and shut the door, but not before calling out: "Rocky Road, _here I come!"_

Audrey watched her sons exit the house and slowly her eyes traveled back to her husband, as she sighed. The room was quiet between them for a minute and then Walter let out a harsh breath. "Did you see that, Audrey? Their just like little _kids! _We can't just—" he began, but she cut him off:  
"Walter, we really have to. And we have to tell them. I really, really don't want to have to fight with you about this thing anymore. As I said, already… it's been coming for a long while."

The front door opened again and an eleven year old girl stepped through it, muttering: "Dumb rain…"

She shook her thoroughly wet umbrella out of the front door as best as she could, and then leaned it against the wall beside the door. She slid out of her rain - dotted, deep red colored blazer and tossed her amber, deep brown hair back, over her shoulder.

It was rather obvious that Drake was her biological brother, because she had his same, deep, twinkling brown eyes and the same soft wave in her long locks. She stepped in to the kitchen and opened up the refrigerator, reaching in and sighing before she grabbed out a can of soda and popped it open, sipping it and walking back in to the living room.

Lifting her head and walking forward, catching her two parents in her view, she spoke up: "Hey guys. What's up?"

"Nothing really, with us, Megan. Tell us, sweetie-- how did your drama class go?" Audrey asked, cracking a smile and leading her daughter to sit beside her.

"Oh, man, it was awful, Mom! I'm really glad my friend Shannon's Mom was a little early to pick us both up. That way I didn't have to stay there any longer. Seriously, like nobody in that class can act at _all_. It's completely excruciating to have to watch and listen to. Oh yeah! And I forgot-- I'm supposed to homework! For it, I'm supposed to write a dramatic and comedic short story to act out in class! Who ever's story wins the highest grade, gets to be the star in the play we're putting on next month. The worst thing is that I can't think of _anything_ and its due by Monday!" the girl exclaimed: "...Stupid drama."

"I thought you _loved_ drama--" Drake exclaimed, walking back inside with his brother at his side and with a slightly rainy ice cream cone in each of their hands: "Or maybe _just causing it..._" he continued, with a quieter voice and slightly mischievous chuckle and raise of his eyebrows.

"_Drake..._" Walter said, in an almost warning growl.

"Okay, I'm sorry." he sighed, taking a lick at his melting scoop of ice cream.

"Well, you should be." the pre - teen age girl said, narrowing her eyes.

"Look, guys, your mother and I are going to go get the car washed, okay?" Walter said, motioning for their mother to grab her coat, as she stood.

"Can I come with you?" Megan asked.

"No!" her father snapped, making the young girl shrink back at the unexpected bark.

"...He means that we'll just be back in a while, Megan. You go watch TV in your room or play with your Pintendo GS until we return, okay, sweetie?"

"Okay, mommy."

"Bye, Mom--Dad." Drake said, shrugging and stepping across the room, a bit closer to the couch.

"Bye, kids." Walter replied, closing the door behind them as Josh walked over to where the other boy was sitting on the sofa.

"So... you guys _actually _chased down the ice cream truck in the rain?" Megan said, after a moment of staring at the wet ends of Drake's hair hanging down in his eyes.

"Well..." Drake began: "Yup." both said, simultaneously.

"We _have_ ice cream in the _freezer!" _the practical girl smirked, frowning and crossing her arms.

"So? ...Ice cream truck ice cream is just bettah!" Josh replied, taking a bite out of his cone.

"And anyway, there wasn't even any waiting line at the truck, so we got it really fast!" Drake smiled, shrugging also.

"...That's because other people aren't as stupid as you guys, and their smart enough to stay home, stay... _dry, _and eat _free_ ice cream. Boobs!" she exclaimed, rolling her eyes.

"Well, the rain _was _wet, so you do kind of have a good little point there--" Josh began, being cut off by Drake: "You're agreeing to her calling us boobs, you idiot!"

"_Drake,_ I am not an idiot!" Josh growled.

"You know, Josh, you're right for once--you're _not_ an idiot--you're a boob!" Drake exclaimed loudly.

"Whatever, I'm going to my room _to obey Mommy._" Megan said, with a quick, innocent bat of her eye lashes. "Oh, yeah," she finished, stopping at the doorway and turning around: "And if you guys don't want to catch pneumonia, I'd really suggest getting up off your lazy butts and changing in to clothes that _haven't_ been through Niagara." With these last words, the little brunette figure disappeared in to the stair well, leaving her two older brothers alone in silence except for the fading echo of her foot steps up the stairs.

"Dude, she is right-- I'm getting totally uncomfortable in these clothes." Josh said standing up and helping up sopping wet opposite: "It's just too wet in all the wrong places."

Drake nodded and started toward the stairs with him, stopping only for a moment to throw the very small remains of his cone in the trash can in the dining room.

Once the teen agers where upstairs and in their room, the two boys headed to their closet and taking out better, certainly dryer clothes, then beginning to change in to them as quickly as they could. "Hey... Josh?" Drake asked, as he pulled his soft tee - shirt on over his head shook out his loose, brown - gold mane of hair.

"Yeah, Drake?" Josh smiled with a truly kind and content smile, looking up and running his hand through his own dark, slightly damp hair.

"...Do you happen to know about any secret things Mom and Dad are planning?" came the questioning reply.

"What do you mean?"

Drake leaned against the silver ladder of his bed and laced a tired arm carefully through the rungs, beginning to shake his head: "That's just it-- I don't really know yet. I was just in the kitchen grabbing a snack and I heard them talking. Dad said something to Mom about 'leaving after being here for so long'. I wondered if they were thinking about perhaps buying us a new house, but when I came out of the kitchen and asked Mom about it, she acted all... weird and said no. I was just thinking that maybe you were in on some kind of deal with them or something. Or maybe you have some inside scoop on what this is all about."

"Drake, I'm not the publisher of a useless teen age magazine-- and I don't even know what they could be up to. ...Much less do I know of any 'inside scoops'!"

"Well, I was just asking!" Drake laughed at his brother with a roll of the eyes as he drew himself from the metal ladder and stepped a few steps across the room, sitting on the sofa in the center of it.

"Ughhh... do you know what has to be one of the worst feelings in the whole history of the world EVER?" he started, after a minute, looking up with a deep grimace.

"Being a D minus student in school and being hopelessly and overly obsessed with seeking pleasure from young, teen age girls?" Josh asked.

"You're a D minus student? Josh, why didn't you TELL ME?" Drake replied, gasping truthfully and grabbing his brother's shoulder.

"Not _me._ I was talking about-- Ohh, never MIND. There's no use in trying to explain any of it to you. _What_ to you is the worst feeling 'in the history of the world, ever', if... that's even grammatically correct?"

"Wet socks! Blach! Their disgusting!" Drake replied, finally reaching down and ripping the damp red socks from his feet, tossing them over his shoulder.

"Oh, yeah, Drake... wet socks is the worst feeling as opposed to cancer, being murdered, being helplessly alone or suffering depression like _some people all over the world!" _Josh said, rolling his eyes and watching his step brother walk over and open up the drawer of the dresser to grab some dry socks.

"...And hey! Thank you for throwing your dirty, dripping wet socks on to my fresh, clean bed! Now we can all feel _better!"_

Drake simply let out an: "Eeeh," and grabbed up his old socks off Josh's bed, tossing them instead at his brother's face, before he sat down to put on the fresh ones.

Suddenly the brother's phone on the desk began ringing loudly and Josh darted across the room, throwing the socks on to the floor and looking to check the caller i.d. screen. "Hey, Drake, it's Dad's new cell." Josh said, almost unconsciously.

"Oh really? I wonder what he could possibly want." Drake replied, looking up and standing, taking a few steps until he was beside the other boy: "Put it on speaker phone before you answer, I want to hear."

"'Kay..." Josh murmured, punching a few buttons and then looking back over at his brother before turning to the phone and smiling: "Hello, Dad?"

What the boys heard next was so strange that it took them a while to figure out. There were quiet voices talking over the line, but they sounded almost far away-- as if they weren't meant to be heard by the listeners on the other end of the line. Drake and Josh listened for a long moment before realizing that there were two voices and that they both belonged to their parents. Leaning in close to the speaker on the telephone cradle, the boys tried hard to discern what they were saying, with out even coming to the realization that perhaps they shouldn't be listening.

"Audrey, I'm telling you, their not _old enough now to--_"

"Listen to me! You know how bad it's been lately, and it's not going to get any better instantly, so the best thing to do is to walk away from it and get all new. _And I mean ALL new. _Not a bit left of the old one. I couldn't stand that and neither could they."

"But this means so much to me! Is it _really_... over?"

"...Yes Walter. Now let it go."

Drake and Josh frowned, pulling back and straightening themselves up. "Why did they call us and then--"

Josh cut off his brother's useless question and answered it all at the same moment: "He didn't call us on purpose, I don't think... his new cell phone has that voice recognition calling system. He must have forgotten to lock the phone and then said the words 'Drake and Josh', and when the phone recognized our programmed names, it called us."

"Then... then we're not supposed to be hearing what ever their saying, are we?" Drake asked, thinking for a silent moment.

"No, I guess not, but I find it interesting. I mean, they _were _taking about us and--" Josh felt his sentence trail off when his usually less righteous step brother frowned and reached out, pressing the little plastic switch to hang up the phone: "Then we can't listen, after right now."

"Yeah, bro, you're right. But... is it wrong to wonder what all of that gibberish could have possibly meant?" Josh replied, sighing out of tired and slightly convicted confusion.

"No, it's not wrong. I mean, we heard it, and there's no erasing it from out heads. Anyway, we didn't know until now that we weren't supposed to be listening. ...But like you asked-- what _did _it mean?" Drake said, frowning and crossing his arms as his brother fell in to the office chair, and he rested himself in perfect balance on the edge of the desk in front of it.

"Yeah... and what did Dad mean about 'Is it over?' Is... what over?"

Suddenly, the words Josh had spoken seemed to pop out, bigger than life in both of their minds, and the thoughts that began to swirl vigorously in and around their heads made them outwardly gasp.

"J-Josh what if they mean--what if your Dad meant that he thought--what if they--?-!" the stuttering, garbled words of the teen ager reflected Josh's perfectly and he turned to Drake, gasping again and taking on a much more serious, unbelieving look of exasperation.

"N-n-no! They couldn't even be thinking about that! Not even pondering it! They couldn't EVER do that to this family-- to us!" he exclaimed.

"I know they can't be! They can't have a baby! Our family is perfect the way it IS!" Drake almost shrieked.

"Drake! No! Not that! Their not having a baby! I was--"

"How can you be so sure?-! I wouldn't be surprised at all if they were going to! That's why they were arguing all about 'telling us' when they were down in the living room!"

"Drake--"

"Oh my g--JOSH, THEIR HAVING A--" Something flew at Drake's face and with loud popping noise, he stared a minute before shaking off the slap, murmuring a quick: "Thank you..."

"You're very welcome!" came the breathless answer.

"Then--then what do either of them mean by all the junk they said?" he asked, very, _very _curiously.

"Drake, I don't know-- I mean, I think I have an idea or more a _guess, _but I think that..."

"What?" Drake asked, desperately wanting to finally know what was on his brother's troubled mind as of an answer to this confusing riddle of jumbled words: "Seriously, what are you thinking, Josh? You have to tell me!"

"Bro," Josh stood and turned to Drake, coming closer and reaching out to clasp the boy's thin, firm shoulders gently in his hands as he bit his lip: " I don't know, really, I mean, I'm sure I could possibly be wrong, but I think the only conclusion I can understand that's logical in this situation is that Mom and Dad might just seriously be... _breaking up._"


	2. Awaken

"Divided We Stand" – Chapter Two, "Awaken"

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Summary: Drake and Josh over - hear private conversations and find out that a hurtful blow is coming to them soon concerning their family. My third D&J story, R&R!

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A/N: Second chapter's up! I love writing this story. Hopefully it's not stupid. :-D Happy reading! EDIT: Again, I have tried to break up the sentences to make it easier toread.Sorry it was hard to read guys. I didn't think anything of it because that's the way I always wrote "Party in a Box". :-/ Anyhow, it is as divided up as I can possibly divide now, so hopefully everyone can read it.  
-Morgan

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Fic Information--

Story: "Divided We Stand"

Chapter: "Awaken", Two

Date Chapter Finished: February Ninth, Two-Thousand and Six

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"What?-! You mean that they might actually be thinking of getting a… _divorce?"_ Drake gasped, his eyes popping as he dropped back to the desk.

"I don't know, but isn't that what it sounds like to you? 'It's over Walter'? 'Being so hard to leave after being here for so long'? Drake, what else could it mean?" Josh said, in a quipping voice.

"Oh… my gosh. Mom and Dad are seriously divorcing? We're going to get our old lives back!" Drake exclaimed, standing up again and walking around his brother, who stood in front of him.

"That's good, isn't I—" Josh began to speak in a quiet tone, but his brother interrupted him: "It's better than good, it's amazing! I never thoughts it would happen! I never even _imagined! _Everything we had going for us in our olds lives are coming back!"

"Yeah, well maybe… Maybe I just may not want mine back." Josh murmured, in a deeply upset voice, glancing at the ground and turned to start toward the door.

"Wait—Josh! W-wait! What are you talking about?" Drake replied, frowning and racing across the room and leaning in to grab his step brother's arm.

"I don't know, Drake, I… I guess I'm just in shock, that's all." the slow answer reached the brown eyed teenager's ears.

"Josh," he replied, in an earnest voice: "_What is it?"_

"Look, man, I think this is just plain horrible! I know you probably never wanted me as a brother, and I was even scared of the idea myself, but I can't even imagine leaving this family. You _know _that if Dad leaves, he's going to insist on taking me with him, and I don't want to leave you. You may not understand me, and I sometimes I maybe not understand you, but I love you as much as I would love a blood brother of mine. We're a team—we always have been—and we have always hung in there for each other. With out you, Drake," Josh closed his eyes in a long, emotional blink and then shook his head turning away a little: "With out you, I can't even have any more good times. …I just don't want to have my old life back, but I guess that doesn't really matter. Nothing matters."

"It matters, Josh. You know it does." Drake replied, hardly knowing how to respond to such a shocking and raw statement of how his brother felt.

"No, Drake, it... it really doesn't, now. I'll--I'll talk to you later." the quiet, deeply upset and almost heart broken answer came, as he shook his head again and walked to the door, opening it.

"Where are you going?" the other boy asked, taking a few quick, halting steps across the room as he looked up after his step brother.

"I... I have to do some homework. I'll see you in a while, I guess." Josh murmured, before slipping out the door and leaving it standing open behind him, as Drake listened to him step down the stairs.

After staring at the door way to their room for a long while, he grabbed up a throw pillow from their couch and tossed it across the expanse of the room, bending his brow in to a frown and letting out a frustrated groan as he hurried to his bed and took the ladder three rungs at a time, flinging himself in to it and burying his throbbing head in the mound of soft pillows. He sighed in to them and turned over, staring at the ceiling for a while.

_How could his Mom and Dad be doing this? What a mess! Now Josh was angry. Or upset, or... or what ever it was that he was. _

He thought he knew what he wanted, but now he wasn't sure. Actually, he wasn't _really_ sure about anything, now. He had thought it might be fun to live his old life-- stay in bed as long as he wanted until his mother finally got him up, late-- no more annoying Josh buzzing around him or jumping up and down on his mattress until he promised to get out of the warm bed; no more Oprah; no more crazy situations; and really, no more pranks from Megan. But the question that continued running through his head and kept him so confused was this-- _with out Josh_, with out all the crazy schemes and nutty situations, with out the pranks that Megan pulled on them, and even with out the kindness Josh was always giving to him-- would Drake really still be _Drake? _Would he really be the same aside from the step - family he had grown so accustom to?

Then the memories began to rush back to his dizzy mind-- he remembered when he and Josh went to take their drivers' license tests together, he remembered the big adventure in Hollywood that had happened a few months ago-- how the two brothers had stuck together and ended up saving the day. He remembered so much more-- the Dune Buggy, the sheep, the Zero Gravity guitar contest. The talent contest last year, when Josh had gotten up and done "Soul Man" with him and faced the crowd, even though he was afraid. There were so many good times they had had together, that now Drake was beginning to feel frightened at the prospect of it all possibly coming to an end.

Even though Josh was a total dork at times, and a geek, and even though he _did_ his homework, and he actually _tried_ to eat healthy, maybe... just maybe Drake had begun to almost love that geekiness over the years and through the times they had shared together.

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"But-- but Josh! Dad! Please, you can't do this!" the thin, now weak - voiced Drake Parker pleaded, a fearing look written in his glimmering eyes and a painful expression stroked over his face.

"No, Drake. We have to." came Walter's cold, almost loathsome reply. "I'll be back in a minute, Josh, I have to go talk with the moving van and make sure they have our address right." he finished, turning to his biological son and after he issued a nod, took off down the pathway, toward the end of the drive way, where the large yellow van sat on the curb.

Josh had already said his goodbyes to Megan, and though he expected nothing more than a simple: "I'm sorry you're leaving. Goodbye, Josh." he wasn't _truly _surprised that the little girl had begun to cry and cling to him in a hug. After a few more minutes, her mother finally took her up to her room, to try and comfort her there.

"Josh," Drake exclaimed, his voice finally cracking and his eyes melting in to tearful blurs: "You have to stay with me! You can't leave, you're my brother-- my _real _brother."

"I--I know, Drake. I don't want to leave you. But the--the courts say that I have to go with..." the boy's own dark voice faded off in to emotional chokes and finally he managed to clear his eyes and bring his head up, glancing across at his brother, standing on the threshold of the front door, leaning the side of his limp body on the door frame and a weak, broken shimmer of tears on his cheeks.

"Will you write me? Will you call me when you get moved in? ...L-Las Angles is so far away." the grey, hollow words rolled over Drake's numb lips.

"Yeah, I guess it _is_ pretty far away when you've lived in the same room together for four and something odd years." Josh, replied, in a half - choked up sentence.

"Josh... you've done so much for me--you've done so much for everybody! ...How am I going to live with out you there to keep me from going crazy?" the very upset teenager asked, looking up deeply in to his brother's grey - hazel eyes.

"Oh, hush, Drake..." Josh finally exclaimed through his tears and he looked on only a minute more at his brother before he dropped his suitcase to the concrete of the front porch and he stepped forward, clasping the thin, brunette teen age boy in his arms until they both began to sob.

"I still love you, Drake. You have to promise me that you'll remember that. Even if you forget about all the good things we did together and all the fun times we had, just remember that I loved you. And even though I may be far away from you, I'll always be right there, holding your hand and hugging my brother, in your heart, okay? You can make it with out me. You're a cool guy."

Drake was trying so hard to compose himself and think up something to say in reply to such a heart breaking speech, that he felt himself jump and his head snap up when he heard his step - father shout from across the yard, in an almost bitter voice: "Come on, Josh-- it's time to go."

Josh turned back to his brother and Drake's eyes widened. "...It, _it is_ time to go, now. I love you more than anybody, Drake." leaning down to grab the handle of his suitcase and stepping down the few steps to the brick walkway, Josh looked up for the last time and finally said the words which Drake had been dreading all of this time: "...Goodbye, brother."

"Good… bye, Josh." The strangled words emerged from Drake's lips, as he stared at his brother, and felt another hot tear slide down his face.

Josh continued to look at him, trying to keep himself from bursting in to tears, and both boys felt a wince when Walter called him name once again: "Josh!"

"C—coming, Dad…" Josh began to yell back, but quieted when his tears overcame his voice and his words knotted tightly in his throat. Closing his eyes, after a moment, he turned his back to the other boy and slowly stepped away, down the walk way toward the truck that his father was waiting for him in.

Drake hardly even knew it when he stepped up to the very edge of the porch and leaned unstably on the rail, and as he began to feel his chest tighten, he heard the upstairs window above him slide open.

"Mommy—why does Josh have to leave? It's not fair." a despondent, weak - from - crying little girl's voice floated down to the teen ager's ears.

"I don't know, Megan, sweetie. It just has happened this way, though it _doesn't _seem fair." Came his mother's own, quiet words.

"Yeah…" he whispered miserably, to himself as he looked out at the yellow vehicle that his brother was climbing in to: "It's _not fair._"

It was really about five whole minutes until anything happened, because they had to secure the back door to the moving van and clamp down the special locks, but when it came, Drake felt the full blow. The van's diesel motor cranked up loud—so loud that Megan, upstairs, grabbed her ears and felt her head throb—but Drake didn't bother to plug his ears, nor did he really care, after all, these were the very last moments he would see his brother, perhaps for years and years.

The over sized truck began to move backward, in reverse, so that they could get lined up in the street, and Josh leaned to the side window of the cab. As he began to wave, Drake lost control of himself and started out toward the end of the drive way. He knew full well that he couldn't stop his brother and step father from leaving, but he wasn't really going to try—it was too late now. All he wanted _now_ was to feel one last moment of their brotherhood—to see Josh's face one last time. He stopped running out of exhaustion, halfway down the long concrete drive, but he managed to straighten up and lift a hand to slowly wave. He could see his brother's face very well, and he could tell he was barely restraining tears as well, as the truck finally shifted in to "drive" and he slowly left behind the only brother he'd ever known.

Drake's shoulders where quivering violently and they were both crying by the time to truck was past their house and the two teenagers stared at each other until both faded from view. But as fast as they had been thrown together as two opposites, it was now all over with.

The brunette boy stood in the same spot for at least three or four minutes after the sight of the moving van had gone from his view, simply trying to pull himself together enough to go back inside and face the lonely house that he used to find so content and happy. Finally, he looked down at the ground and let out a heaving, shivering sigh, and as soft thunder broke overhead in the grey, cloud - filled sky, he turned slowly, his hands finding his pockets and his teeth biting his lip in anxiety as he walked up to the front door.

He was so messed up-- so utterly confused and hurt, that he was genuinely surprised when he was able to make it by himself up the stairs and find his own way to the bed room he had used to share with his brother. As he walked in to the room, through the door way, he shuddered and felt his stomach twist at the sight of the half - empty floor, where his brother's old bed used to sit. His legs hurt so bad from standing outside for such a long time and watching the movers carry every single piece of furniture of Josh's from the house to the truck, and he just began to realize it now. He sighed weakly and winced as he brought himself to walk over and sit on the couch in the center of the overly empty room.

The second he sat down, he gasped in pain, and though his legs _did _hurt that bad, it was for an entirely different reason. Reaching beneath himself, he grabbed something and pulled it from between the two seats cushions of the sofa, holding it in front of him. The article laying in his hands made him smile and yet feel a deep pain in his heart, like a stab of a knife. He ran his fingers over the little miniature bound notebook that had the words printed over the front in small, sophisticated letters: "Property of Josh Nichols". It upset him that Josh had forgotten something, but at the same time, he was immensely happy to have something to remember him by, and to pick up and hold when he got lonely for the brother.

Flipping the cover of the little book over, Drake felt a tiny smile form on his lips, even amid the tears in his dewy eyes. The first two pages where blank, but then, when he turned the paper over the third time, something caught his eye and made him frown in confusion as he read it. Scrawled across the paper in a small, neat script, the words Drake read his own name, which was written at the top left corner of the page.

_Dear Drake--  
__Hi brother. By now, I'm already gone and you're probably sitting alone on our couch, am I correct?  
__Anyway, that doesn't matter. Don't worry, I left this behind on purpose because I wanted you to have  
__something to remember me by, even if we were far apart. I don't want you to be too sad, because  
__that would make me sad too. Okay, so I may be a dork with words in a note like this, but this is important._

Drake's amazed eyes finished scanning the little page of lined paper and he curiously lifted his shivering hand, to flip it over and read more or this mysterious note:

_I just want you to know that I love you. I wish I knew some way to put it differently, some way that would  
__make you laugh, or maybe some way that's poetic or something, but all I can think of right now are  
__the words. You're the best brother anyone could ever have and I can't believe I'm having to leave you.  
__It hurts me so bad. Even though we two used to fight sometimes or whatever, I know deep down that  
__we never meant anything we said or did. I mean, about the Foam Finger, or Mindy, or about-- well, what  
__ever it happened to be about. Anyway, I think that you've got to be the greatest in the world to be  
__able to apologize and to still love me even when I act all nutty like all brothers do._

_Maybe we mis-calculated about the step brother thing at first. I mean, because we thought it would never  
__work in a million years, but look how much great stuff we've done together? I still can't believe that we  
__didn't get more than a few years together... I mean, we were so close to seeing each other grow up and  
__start all kinds of stuff. Like when we had all that stuff happen to us in Hollywood and you got on TRL--man,  
__I don't think I have ever been more proud of you. If anyone should be moving to Las Angles, it should be  
__you. You have the extreme talent to get a record or movie deal, and you'd be humongous in L.A. Like I  
__said before, I just don't get all of this. None of this even makes any logic sense.  
__  
Anyway, out of all of that stuff, the thing I want you to know most is that you taught me to loosen up a lot to  
__the world, and I'm forever grateful to you for that. And I don't know about you, but with all those great things  
__that have happened to us, well--I'm never going to forget a single second of the memories we made. I'll  
__always love you brother, and I want you to know that you'll always be my idol. Even if you never made  
__it to being a huge teen pop star, you are always going to be the dude I look up to for guidance. Thanks  
__for everything brother. And, I know that God can't let this be the end of us. So, until we meet face to face  
__again someday when you're a big star and I'm standing in your autograph line, I love you, Drake._

_--Your Brother,  
__Josh._

The small little book slid from Drake's grip-less hands and he closed his eyes tightly, trying very hard to shut out the tears that were threatening him so much. "I love you, too, Josh..." he managed to murmur, almost melting at his own words, down in to a tiny, sobbing, shaking heap on the couch. And all he could mutter over and over was: "I love you too."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Suddenly, Drake eyelids snapped open and he jerked so hard he psychically threw himself off of his mattress, scattering cds and other assorted things that were on his bed, across the ledge, some even tumbling over the edge and down, on to the floor.

"Wha-- what the--?" he murmured to himself, sitting up like lightning and glancing around, trying to figure out how he had almost mystically gotten from sitting on the couch to laying in his bed. Then with out warning, the conclusion hit him, making him exclaim in surprise: "Well, snap, it was a dream! Gosh! Aaargh! Stupid--over--active--brain!" He reared back his hand and gave himself a very vigorous slap, sending a painful zap through his system, but waking him fully, and putting an end to any possible danger of him falling back in to a sleep and dreaming such a horrendous dream, another time.

But after a moment of gaining his composure, Drake let out an irrepressible gasp as he realized something.

"_Wait, if I and Josh don't do something--this dream could actually come TRUE! No way! N-no way am I letting that happen! I cannot let my brother be taken away from me; no matter what Mom and Dad might be thinking is "best" for the family! If it happened in any way even remotely like I dreamt it, then it wouldn't be good at all for our family! Oh, man, this is a mess."_

Then, he remembered the upset way Josh had left the room earlier, and he winced as he had in his so- realistic dream. He moved from his perch on the ledge of his bed and jumped quickly down to the rug on the wooden floor, glancing over at the clock, curious as to what time it could be and how long he had slept there, in that spot. It was five forty five by the clock on Josh's night table, and this made Drake sigh in relieved contentment as he ran a hand through his slightly messy hair, to smooth it back and then hurried down the stairs in the hall.

"_Good, I only slept for maybe forty five minutes. Maybe Josh will be willing to talk about this by now. And anyway, perhaps this dream was meant to give me a different perspective on all of this. Because like in the dream, he really does love me. And I love him too. I think I do, don't I?"_

As he walked, he thought for a moment, and then the answer came quickly. He did! He knew it now, he _did _love Josh some where deep inside his heart, and there was no way or even slight chance in the world that he was going to let go of his brother with out atleast trying and giving up a fair fight for him. After all of the things he had done for Drake, the very least he could do in return was to hold on to him.

When he reached the living room, he glanced around to find it empty, and hearing the rain pattering gently on the roof, he took a wild guess that perhaps Josh was out on the porch watching the rain and thinking about all this stuff. Going on his usually correct gut feeling, he ran a few tired steps to the front door and opened it, softly stepping out and looking around the little area.

Surely enough, sitting over at the left - end of the porch, on the out door porch swing, staring out at the rain, was the dark haired, light eyed Josh. Drake smiled upon discovering his brother, and felt a bit relieved at seeing him there, after such an upsetting dream. Letting out a cracking cough and a clearing of his throat, so he wouldn't scare Josh too very much, Drake blinked his chocolate eyes and stepped forward, speaking in a quiet and almost gentle voice: "...Hey, bro."

Josh jumped a bit and turned, looking up at the other teen ager, but then let out a little smile: "Hey."

"So, is the rain more interesting than homework?" Drake asked.

"Well, see I had to--"

"Aww, its okay, don't bother explaining. I came down to see how you were feeling." Drake said stopping him before he could go on, returning the half - smile and coming a few steps over to sit beside him on the swing.

"You... did?" came the question.

"Yep. I know you were upset about this stuff. And I'm sorry for acting like I did. I didn't really think so an hour ago, but I had this really horrible dream when I fell asleep on my bed up there, and well--anyway, I realized I don't want my old life back, either."

"But--but I thought that you didn't actually wa--"

"I know, I know... but I just didn't realize all of the... I just didn't think hard enough, I guess you could say. That dream just--jogged my memory." Drake interrupted, continuing on with a quiet voice and a repentant and sorry tone in his voice.

"Really? You _really_ dreamed about me?" Josh asked, in a quizzical tone and a wide smile for the first time.

"I sure did. And the dream was the worst ever. I dreamt--" the boy lowered his voice and leaned in a little bit, before speaking again: "I dreamt that Dad and Mom_ did _get a divorce and Dad moved to L.A. with you! It was horrible. And in the dream I cried all the time."

"T-that _is _horrible! ...Man, Drake, we totally can't let that happen, can we? I couldn't leave you!" Josh said, shaking his head and reaching down to grab his brother's hand.

"Of course we can't! That's why I came to apologize in the first place-- so we could make up and work _together _to get Mom and Dad _back together._"

"Uh oh... I smell a crazy Drake Parker scheme." Josh sighed, widening his eyes in a look of blatant fear and shaking his head.

"Oh, do you now?"

"Look, Drake, I'm only willing to do what ever it is as long as it has no connection with me throwing jelly at them." Josh said, letting go of his hand and narrowing his eyes as he crossed his arms.

Drake laughed and rolled his eyes, speaking in a re-assuring voice: "Don't worry; I haven't come up with any schemes yet."

Josh sighed and finished the sentence: "Yeah... but that's just 'yet'. Am I right?"

Drake looked out in to space for a moment with an odd grin and finally he turned back to his brother and nodded mischievously: "..._Yeah. _But I'll try not to involve jelly.


End file.
